Unit 3: Foundations of the Modern State - Absolutism and Constitutionalism

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the rise of absolutism, constitutional monarchy, dynastic developments, and major conflicts across early modern England, France, Spain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

Constitutional Monarchy

A system of governance in which a monarch's power is legally limited by documents (such as a constitution, statutory laws, and judicial decisions) and by a representative legislative body, often led by a Prime Minister.

Absolutism

A political framework where supreme power originates from the monarch, surpassing the law, suppressing parliamentary authority, and relying on standing armies, orderly bureaucracies, and the financial backing of the landed nobility.

Divine Right

The political and theological doctrine asserting that a monarch is God's direct representative on earth, exercising divine authority and answering to no earthly power or parliament.

Mercantilism

An economic system widely adopted by absolute states to fund costly governance and standing armies through strict government regulation of trade, agriculture, and manufacturing.

Court Nobility

Aristocrats integrated into the monarch's elaborate court culture, functioning as an instrument of state power and royal surveillance to diminish independent noble rebellion.

Tudors

The English royal dynasty that expanded central governmental authority, stimulated nationalism, maintained economic prosperity, and ruled with high popularity while governing almost as absolute monarchs.

Henry VII

The first Tudor monarch of England (ruled 1485–1509), categorized as a 'New Monarch' who rebuilt royal finances and consolidated central authority following dynastic warfare.

Henry VIII

Tudor monarch (ruled 1509–1547) who broke with Rome, centralized English crown authority, and was famously married six times (Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Kathryn Howard, and Katherine Parr).

Elizabeth I

Tudor queen (ruled 1558–1603) who refused marriage, defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, cooperated effectively with Parliament, undertook royal 'progresses' throughout the country, and was greatly mourned upon her death.

Spanish Armada

A massive naval fleet dispatched by Philip II of Spain in 1588 to invade England, which was famously defeated by English naval forces and weather under Elizabeth I.

Progresses

State journeys undertaken by Queen Elizabeth I throughout the English countryside to visit subjects, stay with local nobles, and foster strong personal popularity and nationalism.

Stuarts

The ruling dynasty of Scotland and England whose monarchs frequently clashed with Parliament, promoted divine right monarchy, mistreated Puritans, heavily taxed the middle class, and imprisoned opponents without fair trials.

James I

The first Stuart king of England (ruled 1603–1625; James VI of Scotland) who openly claimed divine right ('Kings are justly called gods') and commissioned the King James Version of the Bible based on William Tyndale's translation.

Petition of Right

A constitutional document passed by Parliament during the reign of Charles I that sought to constrain royal power by barring arbitrary imprisonment and taxation without parliamentary consent.

Charles I

Stuart king (ruled 1625–1649) who governed without Parliament for eleven years until 1640, initiated the English Civil War in 1642, and was tried and executed for treason by Parliament in 1649.

English Civil War

A military conflict lasting from 1642 to 1646 between the Royalist supporters of King Charles I (Cavaliers) and the Parliamentary forces (Roundheads), ending in victory for Parliament.

Commonwealth

The republican period in England (1649–1660) established following the execution of Charles I, initially founded as a republic and eventually governed as a military dictatorship.

Oliver Cromwell

Parliamentary military leader who governed England as 'Lord Protector' during the Puritan Revolution, serving as a military dictator until his death and dissolving Parliament in 1654.

Charles II

Stuart monarch (ruled 1660–1685) restored to the English throne after years of exile during the Commonwealth, generally demonstrating a pragmatic willingness to yield to parliamentary authority.

James II

Stuart king (ruled 1685–1688) whose overt pro-Catholic appointments and policies, combined with the birth of a Catholic male heir, led to his overthrow in the Glorious Revolution.

Glorious Revolution

The events of 1688–1689 in which Parliament removed James II and transferred the throne to his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange without major bloodshed in England.

English Bill of Rights

An act passed by Parliament in 1689 guaranteeing basic civil liberties, establishing parliamentary supremacy, and mandating that all future English monarchs must be Anglican.

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

A targeted slaughter of French Calvinists (Huguenots) in 1572 during the French Religious Civil Wars, escalating sectarian violence across France.

Henry IV of France

The first Bourbon monarch (ruled 1589–1610; formerly Henry of Navarre) who converted to Catholicism to unite France ('Paris is worth a mass') and issued the Edict of Nantes.

Edict of Nantes

A 1598 royal decree issued by Henry IV of France granting religious toleration and civil rights to French Huguenots, effectively ending the French Religious Civil Wars.

House of Bourbon

The French royal dynasty founded by Henry IV in 1589 that consolidated centralized absolutist rule and governed France for over two centuries.

Cardinal Richelieu

Chief minister to Louis XIII (serving 1624–1642) who systematically destroyed noble political autonomy, levied taxes without calling the Estates-General, and led France into the Thirty Years' War.

The Fronde

A series of violent noble and parliamentary uprisings against royal central authority and Cardinal Mazarin during the childhood and early reign of Louis XIV.

Louis XIV

Bourbon ruler known as the 'Sun King' (ruled 1643–1715) who perfected French absolutism ('I am the state'), constructed the Palace of Versailles, never summoned the Estates-General, and pursued expansive European wars.

Palace of Versailles

The monumental royal residence built outside Paris by Louis XIV to project royal grandeur, centralize government bureaucracy, and neutralize the political threat of the nobility through elaborate court ritual.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Financial minister under Louis XIV who applied rigorous mercantilist strategies to improve French manufacturing, internal transportation, and commerce to generate royal revenue.

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes

A 1685 decree by Louis XIV (Edict of Fontainebleau) that abolished religious toleration for Huguenots, severely harming the French economy by driving hundreds of thousands of skilled Protestants into exile.

Philip II of Spain

Spanish Habsburg monarch (ruled 1556–1598) who centralized the Spanish Empire and checked Ottoman naval power with Venice and the Pope, but failed to defeat England or suppress the Dutch revolt.

Ivan III (the Great)

Grand Prince of Moscow (ruled 1462–1505) who threw off Mongol control, expanded Russian territories, and subdued the boyar aristocracy to lay the groundwork for absolute rule.

Ivan IV (the Terrible)

Grandson of Ivan the Great (ruled 1533–1584) who was the first Russian ruler to assume the title of czar and governed through ruthless cruelty and state terror against the boyars.

Michael Romanov

Grandnephew of Ivan IV chosen by an assembly of nobles in 1613 following the Time of Troubles, establishing the Romanov dynasty that governed Russia for 300 years.

Peter I (the Great)

Russian czar (ruled 1682–1725) who crushed noble revolts, subordinated the Orthodox Church to the state, enforced western culture and dress, and built the warm-water Baltic port of St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg

A new seaport city founded on the Baltic Sea by Peter the Great to serve as a 'window to the West' and anchor Russia's naval and commercial ties with western Europe.

Catherine II (the Great)

German-born empress of Russia (ruled 1762–1796) who deposed her husband Peter III, expanded Russian territory south to the Black Sea, and absorbed western lands through the Partitions of Poland.

Partitions of Poland

Three separate agreements between Russia, Prussia, and Austria (in 1772, 1793, and 1795) that divided and entirely eliminated the sovereign Polish state from the map of Europe.

House of Hohenzollern

The noble family originating from the Brandenburg area that ruled Prussia for five centuries using an autocratic administration and a highly disciplined standing army, ultimately unifying Germany in 1871.

Thirty Years’ War

A devastating four-phase European conflict (1618–1648) fought primarily in the Holy Roman Empire, recognized as the first major war fought over the European balance of power.

Frederick William (the Great Elector)

Hohenzollern ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia (ruled 1640–1688) who implemented mercantilism, promoted domestic industry and agriculture, and organized a formidable standing army that won wars against Swedes, Poles, and Austrians.

House of Habsburg

A central European royal dynasty originating in Alsace, Switzerland, and southern Germany that ruled Austria for over 600 years and held the crown of the Holy Roman Empire almost continuously until 1806.

Rudolf I

German count who became Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1273–1291), securing the Austrian lands for the Habsburg family and establishing their long-term dynastic empire through strategic marriages and alliances.